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Drummer From Seminal New Wave Band Dies

Jun 27, 2013  •  Post A Comment

The drummer for a band that was one of the most important U.S. groups of the new wave movement in the late 1970s and early 1980s has died. Billboard reports that Alan Myers, the third and most prominent drummer for Devo, died after a battle with cancer.

Myers was 58.

"Myers joined Devo in 1976 and left a decade later," the story reports. "He can be heard on the new wave band’s biggest hit, 1980’s ‘Whip It,’ which reached No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100. Myers also appears in the song’s iconic video, joining his bandmates in black, sleeveless turtlenecks, and their trademark headgear, where he is shown playing a set of Synare 3 drum synthesizers."

The report adds: "His style of drumming became near legendary thanks to such seminal albums as Devo’s 1978 debut, ‘Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!’ And 1980’s ‘Freedom of Choice’ as well as the concert movie ‘Devo Live 1980,’ issued by Target Video in 2005."

Devo dabbled in a variety of styles, including punk, post-punk and art rock. Other defining songs from the group’s peak period include "Mongoloid," "Jocko Homo," "Girl U Want" and a cover of the Rolling Stones’ "(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction."

Here’s the classic video for "Whip It":

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